Resistant sink base cabinet

ABSTRACT

A cabinet has a base and a first side wherein one of the base and the first side has a male portion and another of the base and the first side has a female portion for mating with the male portion. The cabinet has a second side, such that the second side may be attached to the base, wherein one of the base and the second side has a male portion and another of the base and the second side has a female portion for mating with the male portion, such that the second side may be attached to the base. The cabinet also has a back for attaching to the first side, the second side and the base.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/344,967, filed Jan. 6, 2012.

BACKGROUND

Assembling cabinets used in kitchens, baths and other areas of the homeor office may be a difficult task. In a factory, a typical cabinetassembly operation may require attaching cleats that hold a cabinetbottom and/or top by screwing, gluing or stapling them to a pair of sideportions. A back portion may then be attached to the side portions whileholding the side portions erect in fixtures or the like. The bottom andtop portion (if any) may then attach to the cleats. This process can bevery complex, time consuming and require a plurality of specializedfixtures, jigs and tooling.

Cabinets that are sold in flat packs for assembly by end users are alsosometimes difficult to assemble because of the plethora of differentparts that may be provided to assemble the cabinet, hard to followdirections, varying manufacturing tolerances and ways in which mistakesmight be made.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, a cabinet has a base and afirst side wherein one of the base and the first side has a male portionand another of the base and the first side has a female portion formating with the male portion. The cabinet has a second side, such thatthe second side may be attached to the base, wherein one of the base andthe second side has a male portion and another of the base and thesecond side has a female portion for mating with the male portion, suchthat the second side may be attached to the base. The cabinet also has aback for attaching to the first side, the second side and the base.

According to a further embodiment disclosed herein, a method ofconstructing a cabinet, includes the steps of providing a first sidehaving a male portion or a female portion, providing a second sidehaving a male portion or a female portion providing a base, the basehaving, on two portions thereof, a complementary male portion or afemale portion to the first side male portion or a female portion and tothe second side male portion or a female portion, sliding the maleportion or the female portion of the first side onto the complementarymale portion or female portion of the base and, sliding the male portionor the female portion of the second side onto the complementary maleportion or female portion of the base.

According to a further embodiment disclosed herein, a method ofconstructing a cabinet includes the steps of determining cabinet width,depth, or height, adding or subtracting inserts to create such width,depth or height and manufacturing the sides, back and bottom of thecabinet with or without the inserts depending on the determination.

These and other features of the present invention can be best understoodfrom the following specification and drawings, the following of which isa brief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of cabinet.

FIG. 2 shows details of the back of the cabinet as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2A shows details of a portion of the back of FIG. 2

FIG. 3 is shows a side view of a side of the cabinet as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A shows a section of the side as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 3B shows another section of the side as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the bottom of the cabinet of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows a connection between the side of FIG. 3 and the base ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a method of constructing and deconstructing a cabinet ofthe Figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, a cabinet 10 is shown. The cabinet has a back15, sides 20 and a base 25. As is known in the art, a top 30 may beprovided to cover the sides 20 and the back 15. Also a front 32 and akick plate 33 may enclose the front of the cabinet 10, as is known inthe art. Though the cabinet 10 is quite robust, the addition of a top30, a front 32 and a kick plate 33 will further stiffen the cabinet 10for use. The kick plate 33 and the front 32 may be made of a separatematerial, like wood, fiberboard or the like from the back 15, sides 20and base 25, which are made of recyclable plastic.

Referring now to the back 15 of the cabinet 10 shown in FIG. 2, the back15 has a left side 35, a right side 40, a back top 45, a back bottom 50and an elongated key 55 for securement to the base 25 as will bediscussed infra. Flexible lock tabs 60 extend outwardly from the leftside 35 and the right side 40 for attaching the back 15 to the sides 20as will be discussed herein. The back 15 has an upper support rail 65and a lower support rail 70. The upper support rail 65 has upper moldedsupports 75 to support the upper support rail 65 and the lower supportrail 70 has lower molded supports 80. The molded supports 75 and 80provide enough support to the upper support rail 65 and the lowersupport rail 70 to support a top 30 should it be placed thereupon giventhe normal weight requirements of the top 30. One of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that these lower support rails 70 and lowermolded supports 80 may have other designs than those shown. One ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that more than two rails may beused into the back 15.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, the left side 35 and the right side 40 eachhave a longitudinal stile 81, extending towards the front 32, from whicheach flexible lock tab 60 extends. Stile 81 has a width W₃. Each stile81 has a rigid flap 83 extending from a side 84 towards the other sideof the back 15. The stile 81 and rigid flap cooperate with each side 20to lock the parts together.

Should a cabinet be desired that has a lower height, the upper supportrail 65 may be removed and the lower support rail 75 be used to hold thetop 30. In this way, a back 15 may be molded once for two heights andthen through a simple cutting step be able to be used for a lowerheight. Because the plastic back 15 is recyclable, the part that may beremoved above the lower support rail 75 may then be recycled. One ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that more than two rails may beused into the sides 20.

As shown by the widths W¹, W² and W^(N), a cabinet may have differentwidths and may be manufactured with these widths. The manufacturer mayadd tooling inserts (not shown but are a negative of the shape 85 of theback 15) to a mold (not shown) to extend the width of the back 15 whenconstructing the backs. By adding tooling inserts (not shown) to themold (not shown), the width W^(N) of the back 15 can be extended by thenumber of shapes 85 that are added. In the present case, each shape 85is about 1½″ wide so the back is extended about 12″ by the 8 shapes. Theend portions 87 hold the lock tabs 60, as will be discussed infra. Oneof ordinary skill in the art will also recognize that inserts may alsobe added to the sides 20 to determine how deep the cabinet should be andto the base 25 to conform to the sides 20 and back 15.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 3A, and 3B, each side 20 has a side front 120,a side back 125, a side upper top 130, a side lower top 135, hand holds140 adjacent the side lower top 135, side bottom 145, bottom lock rail150 and kick cutout 155 and stiffening supports 160. Each side 20 ismolded of one piece of recyclable plastic. One of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that the support ridges 160 may have other shapes andcontours to support the weight of the top 30 and material that may beplaced in the base 25 that abuts the sides 20. The side bottoms 145 holdthe cabinet 10 above the ground. The kick cutout 155 allows the kickplate 33 to be installed at a front 120 of the cabinet 10 should suchkick plate 33 be desired.

As with the back 20, should a cabinet 10 be desired that has a lowerheight, the side upper top 130 may be removed and the side lower top 135may be used to hold the top 30. In this way, a side 20 may be moldedonce for two heights and then through a simple cutting step be able tobe used for a lower height. Because the plastic sides 20 are recyclable,the part that may be removed above the side lower top 135 may then berecycled.

The bottom lock rail 150 of each side 20 receives a dovetail slide 205from the base 25 as will be discussed infra (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Thebottom lock rail 150 has lock tabs 165, which extend inwardly towardsthe other side 20, an upper rail 170, and a lower rail 175. The upperrail 170 and the lower rail 175 may be stepped towards each other fromthe side back 125 towards the side front 120 to receive the back 15 fromthe side back 125. By stepping the upper rail 170 and the lower lockrail 175 to create a convergent path, misassembly of the cabinet 10 isless likely to occur. If the upper rail 170 and the lower rail 175 wereequal distantly apart along their lengths, the base 25 might be insertedin either direction which might cause an assembly error. The tabs 180(also FIG. 3A) extend from one lock rail towards the other lock rail.

On the side back of 125 there is a longitudinal inner ridge 190, and alongitudinal outer ridge 195 and a plurality of lugs 200 extending fromthe outer surface 202 of the longitudinal outer ridge towards thelongitudinal inner ridge 190 to receive the back 15 therebehind. Thelongitudinal outer ridge 195 has a width W₄. A plurality of openings 204receive the tabs 60 from the back 15 as will be discussed infra.

Referring now to FIG. 4, base 25 is shown. The base 25 has a back edge215, a pair of sides 217 each of which having a male portion 220extending therefrom for mating with the upper rails 170 and the lowerrails 175 in the sides 20 as will be discussed infra. The male portion220 has a body 245 with upper and lower flanges 250 that create upperand lower grooves 255 that mate with the bottom lock rail 150 of thesides 20. The lock tabs 165 extend into openings 260 in the body 245between the grooves 255 to secure fastening of the sides 20 to the base25. The male portion 220 may also be stepped like the upper rails 170and the lower rails 175, which act as a female portion, to matetherewith. Because of the direction of the tapered portions, misassemblyof the sides 20 and the base is not possible. One of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that the rails (e.g., the female portion) may beon the sides 20 and the male portion may be on the base 25.

By leveraging the lock tabs 165 from the outside of the sides 20, thebase 25 may be removed from sides 20. This feature may be particularlyimportant in countries where people, when leaving an apartment or home,take fixtures like cabinets, with them. Deconstruction of the cabinet 10is therefore desirable.

The base 25 has a textured surface 265 to keep products dry in areaswhere the base 25 might be wet. The base 25 may be angled from the backedge 215 towards the base front 225 to allow leakage to escape out ofthe base front 225.

Referring to FIG. 6, to assemble the cabinet either by a consumer or aninstaller in a home or business, or at the factory, it is firstdetermined how wide and deep the cabinet should be (step 300). The sides20, base 25 and back 15 are removed from molds (not shown) and groupedfor assembly (step 305). In step 310, it is determined whether thecabinets are to be trimmed to size. If so, the back 15 and sides 20 maybe shortened by removing the upper support rail 65, and the lowersupport rail 75 be used to hold the top 30, and by removing the sideupper top 130, and the side lower top 135 may be used to hold the top30, respectively. The sides 20 may be trimmed to size and the back 15may be trimmed to fit the sides 20 and the back 15 (step 315). Thistrimming occurs in the factory.

If trimming is not required, it is determined whether factory assemblyis required in steps 320 and 325. If not, a flat pack is sent to an enduser, an installer, or to a store like a big box store or others forsale to an end user in steps 330 and 335. Flat packs, in which the partsare laid flat atop each other, typically within a box, are a veryefficient way to ship product especially compared to a constructedcabinet which takes up a much larger volume. If an untrimmed flat packis shipped in step 330, a user still has the option in step 340 to trimthe parts. If the parts are to be trimmed to be the desired size, thisoccurs, as in step 315, in step 345. This step 345 may be taken by aninstaller or other user.

In step 350, the male portion 220 of the base 25 is slid in between theupper rails 170 and the lower rails 175 in a side 20. The lock tabs 165engage openings 260 to lock the base to the side 20. The upper rail andthe lower rail 170 and 175 fit within grooves 255. The male portion 220is inserted until shoulders 177 of the stepped rails 170, 175 mate withthe respective steps 178 of the male portion 220. The process is thenrepeated in step 355 for the other side 20 of the cabinet 10.

In step 360, the back 15 is then attached to the sides 20 and the base25. The stile 81 is slid downwardly between the inner ridge 190 andouter ridge 195 of the sides 20 until the top 45 or 50 of the back 15 isflush with the top of the sides 20 either the side upper top 130 or theside lower top 135. The lock tabs 60 then flex out into the lockopenings 204 to maintain the back 15 and register with the sides 20.Because the width W₃ of the stile 81 is less than the width W₄ of theouter ridge 195, each flap 83 is disposed behind each lug 200 if theback is fully inserted as discussed herein. As the stiles continue toslide downwardly, the key 55 is disposed within the slot 230 of the base15 at which point the back is fully inserted. In step 365, other parts,like a front 32, a kick plate 33 or a top 30, may then be attached tothe cabinet 10 as is known in the art.

The cabinet may be deconstructed in reverse order of the steps shownabove. The parts are removed, the lock tabs 60 are removed from lockopenings 204, the back 15 is slid out from between the sides 20, and thelock tabs 165 of the sides 20 disengage openings 260 to unlock the maleportion 220 from the sides to slide the male portion from between theupper and lower rail 170 and 175 to complete the deconstruction.

Although an embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker ofordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modificationswould come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, thefollowing claims should be studied to determine the true scope andcontent of this invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of constructing cabinets, saidmethod comprising: providing a cabinet base, side walls, and a backwall, defining at least one of the cabinet base, side wall, or back wallto have at least one minimum dimension of width or depth; providing oneor more shapes to increase the at least one minimum dimension of the atleast one of the cabinet base, side wall, or back wall to provide aselection of one or more different cabinet widths or depths; selecting adesired cabinet width and depth from the selection of the plurality ofdifferent cabinet widths and depths; and forming at least one of thecabinet base, side wall, or back wall to create the desired width anddepth by adding the shapes to increase the minimum dimension whereneeded.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: trimming said sidewalls and said back wall to decrease the height of the cabinet when ashorter cabinet is needed.
 3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:shipping a flat pack of at least one of said side walls, back wall andbase.
 4. The method of claim 3 further comprising assembling saidcabinet by sliding said side walls onto said base and sliding said backwall between said side walls and into said base.
 5. The method of claim4 further comprising disassembling said cabinet to be reassembled at adifferent location.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the minimumdimension of the back wall comprises the cabinet width, and wherein eachshape increases the cabinet width by a predetermined amount until thedesired cabinet width is achieved.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein theminimum dimension of the back wall comprises the cabinet width, andincluding adding a plurality of shapes to increase the cabinet width toa maximum dimension with the back wall including a plurality ofselectable cabinet widths.
 8. The method of claim 7 including selectingthe desired width to be greater than the minimum dimension and less thanthe maximum dimension, and adding one or more shapes to the back wallhaving the minimum dimension to achieve the desired width.
 9. The methodof claim 1 wherein the minimum dimension of the back wall defines aninitial cabinet width, and wherein each shape increases the cabinetwidth by a predetermined amount, and wherein one end portion ispositioned at each edge of the back wall such that the desired cabinetwidth is determined based on a summation of the initial cabinet width,plus a width of each shape, plus a width of each end portion, andwherein each end portion includes a stile with a lock tab and flap thatis used to attach the back wall to the side walls.
 10. A method ofconstructing cabinets comprising: determining at least one of a desiredcabinet width and a cabinet depth for a finished cabinet; providingsides, a back, and a bottom to form the finished cabinet; providingshapes to adjust at least one of cabinet width and cabinet depth; andusing the shapes with the sides, back, or bottom as needed to form thefinished cabinet.
 11. The method of claim 10 further comprising: addingthe shapes to said sides, said back or said bottom to meet width ordepth requirements.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:shipping a flat pack of the sides, back, bottom, and shapes.
 13. Themethod of claim 12 further comprising sliding the sides onto the base,and sliding the back between the sides and into the base to form thefinished cabinet.
 14. The method according to claim 13 includingproviding a stile at each side of the back wherein each stile includes alock tab and a flap, and wherein attaching the back to the sides furtherincludes sliding the stiles on the back downwardly between ridges of thesides until the lock tabs are received within corresponding lockopenings in the sides, the flaps extend along the back, and a top of theback is flush with a top of the sides.
 15. A method of constructingcabinets, said method comprising: (a) providing sides, a base and a backfor a cabinet wherein the sides, base, and back are configured to eachhave a minimum dimension; (b) determining how high, wide, and deep thecabinet should be; (c) determining whether the back, base and sides areto be adjusted from the minimum dimension based on step (b); (d) addingshapes to the sides, base or back to increase the depth or width fromthe minimum dimension to achieve a desired depth and width; and (e)shortening the back and sides by removing at least one top rail from theback and at least one top portion from the sides to reduce a cabinetheight dimension when a shorter cabinet is needed.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 15 including assembling the cabinet by sliding a maleportion of the base between rails in the sides, and then attaching theback to the sides and the base by sliding the back in a downwarddirection toward the base.
 17. The method according to claim 16 whereinattaching the sides to the base further includes inserting the maleportion until shoulders of stepped areas on the rails mate with therespective steps of the male portion, and having lock tabs engageopenings in the base to lock the base to the side.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 17 wherein attaching the back to the sides furtherincludes sliding a stile on the back downwardly between ridges of thesides until a top of the back is flush with a top of the sides.
 19. Themethod according to claim 18 wherein each stile includes a lock tab anda flap, and wherein sliding the stile further includes sliding the stiledownwardly until the lock tab is received within a corresponding lockopening in one of the sides and the flap extends along the back.
 20. Themethod of claim 15 wherein the minimum dimension of the back defines aninitial cabinet width, and wherein each shape increases the cabinetwidth by a predetermined amount, and wherein one end portion ispositioned at each edge of the back wall such that the desired cabinetwidth is determined based on a summation of the initial cabinet width,plus a width of each shape, plus a width of each end portion, andwherein each end portion includes a stile with a lock tab and flap thatis used to attach the back to the sides.